FTX Debtors Identify $5.5B in Liquid Assets
- A total of approximately $5.5 billion in liquid assets have been identified by the debtors of crypto exchange FTX.
- The liquid assets consist of $1.7 billion of cash, $3.5 billion of crypto assets and $0.3 billion of securities.
- John J. Ray III, the CEO of FTX stated that it was a “Herculean investigative effort” to investigate the liquid assets.
- $1.6 billion have been found linked to FTX.com out of which the debtors were in control of $742 million of assets in cold storage.
Following the collapse of the former multi-billion dollar crypto exchange, FTX, debtors were appointed to investigate and dig out the liquid assets that the exchange was in possession of. While founder Sam Bankman-Fried, also known as SBF, is blamed for being at the center of the collapse, there has yet to be a hearing for the former billionaire. On the other hand, the debtors released additional information regarding the assets to customers and stakeholders on January 17.
According to the official press release from FTX, a total of approximately $5.5 billion of liquid assets have been identified, consisting of $1.7 billion in cash, $3.5 billion in crypto assets, and $0.3 billion in securities. A presentation has been set up that “provides details with respect to the assets and property of the FTX Debtors, including cash, digital assets, investment securities, real estate, investments, businesses, and other property.” All the stakeholders were invited to review the presentation.
John J. Ray III, the CEO and Chief Restructuring Officer of the FTX Debtors, stated that his team was making important progress in efforts to maximize recoveries and added that “it has taken a Herculean investigative effort from our team to uncover this preliminary information.”
“We ask our stakeholders to understand that this information is still preliminary and subject to change. We will provide additional information as soon as we are able to do so.”
Moreover, it is also crucial to note that FTX debtors have identified $1.6 billion in digital assets associated with FTX.com, but out of this amount, over $426 million is held by the Securities Commission of the Bahamas while $181 million is connected to the US arm of the crypto exchange, FTX US.
The press release further added that of the total of $1.6 billion in digital assets, the debtors were in control of $742 million of assets in cold storage. An additional $121 million would be available but is pending transfer. With regard to the US arm of the exchange, the debtors revealed that they had identified approximately $181 million in digital assets associated with FTX US.
Out of $181 million, “$90 million was subject to unauthorized third-party transfers post-petition, $88 million of which is in cold storage under the control of the FTX Debtors, and $3 million of which is pending transfer to cold storage.”
As reported earlier by Bitnation, FTX’s sister trading firm, Alameda Research, had a “secret backdoor line of credit” with the now-bankrupt crypto exchange, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2022. The credit line was created by Gary Wang on the orders of SBF.
“Mr. Wang created this backdoor by inserting a single number into millions of lines of code for the exchange, creating a line of credit from FTX to Alameda, to which customers did not consent,” FTX attorney Andrew Dietderich told the court, adding, “We know the size of that line of credit. It was $65 billion.”
A crypto journalist with over 3 years of experience in DeFi, NFT, metaverse, etc. Parth has worked with major media outlets in the crypto and finance world and has gained experience and expertise in crypto culture after surviving bear and bull markets over the years.
